Gats made a number of errors with the squad imo, some of which were clear from recent regional form, performances during the warm ups, or a complete lack of gametime due to injury.
Lydiate is passed it, not helped by a string of injuries running back years. The bloke has barely played! Botham or Morgan Morris should have been included in the squad instead.
Anscombe in another player who's barely played in 4 years! After missing all the warm ups and both training camps it was madness to think he could cope with the rigours and pace of international rugby at a WC! Options are more limited here, but I too agree that the handling of Jarrod Evans was criminal. Owen Williams, Patchell or Sheedy all would have been better options as well.
It's clear that Grady isn't ready for this level either. I think Gats was swayed by his size here which was a mistake imo. I thought Joe Roberts was very unlucky not to make the cut. He's a far more rounded and intelligent player who has also proven his quality over a longer period at the Scarlets. He would offer something different to North, whearas Grady is much of a muchness. I would like to promote Kieran Williams here as well, however I can understand Gatland's decision to select Johnny Williams at 12, whilst Tompkins really proved many wrong with his display v Fiji.
